Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) Given New $37.00 Price Target at UBS Group

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) had its price objective trimmed by UBS Group from $40.00 to $37.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. B. Riley cut Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $29.50 to $33.50 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday. Barclays cut their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Capital One Financial started coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Properties Realty Trust has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.77.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Price Performance

NYSE:EPRT opened at $31.39 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 5.36 and a quick ratio of 5.36. The firm has a market cap of $6.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $31.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.96. Essential Properties Realty Trust has a 1-year low of $26.07 and a 1-year high of $34.88.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.01). Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 45.15% and a return on equity of 6.12%. The firm had revenue of $129.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $124.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Essential Properties Realty Trust will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s payout ratio is 102.61%.

Insider Activity at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In related news, Director Stephen D. Sautel sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.54, for a total transaction of $406,750.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 178,785 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,817,663.90. The trade was a 6.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.77% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Essential Properties Realty Trust

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust during the 4th quarter worth approximately $83,341,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 51.8% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,062,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,504,000 after purchasing an additional 2,410,278 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Essential Properties Realty Trust during the first quarter worth approximately $59,546,000. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 237.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,100,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,703,000 after buying an additional 1,478,451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in Essential Properties Realty Trust during the first quarter worth $37,224,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

About Essential Properties Realty Trust

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc, a real estate company, acquires, owns, and manages single-tenant properties in the United States. The company leases its properties to middle-market companies, such as restaurants, car washes, automotive services, medical and dental services, convenience stores, equipment rental, entertainment, early childhood education, grocery, and health and fitness on a long-term basis.